The Master Chief returns to continue the fight against the Covenant, except now the battle moves to Windows Vista PCs. Those who didn't pick up Halo 2 for the Xbox back in 2004 will appreciate the epic story, continuing from where the first game left off. Veterans, on the other hand, will enjoy the enhancements. Releasing as the first Windows Vista exclusive game, Halo 2 will feature major upgrades to compete with many of today's top shooters.

To catch players up, a hostile alien race known as the Covenant has been at war with humanity. Despite the humans' best efforts, the aliens discovered the location of Earth and launched a full scale invasion. The Master Chief, a bioengineered supersoldier wearing experimental armor, wages a one-man commando assault on the invaders. However, this time the Master Chief won't be the only playable character. Halo 2 switches things up by telling the story through the eyes of an Elite Covenant soldier.

Developed by Hired Gun, an internal studio at Microsoft working closely with Bungie (the Xbox developers), Halo 2 for Vista will be getting quite a facelift with higher resolution and larger textures. Although it will be a premiere Vista exclusive, it will not make use of DirectX 10 (the Vista-only graphics API), so players won't need to shell out the cash for video card upgrades.

The new Halo 2 will take advantage of Vista features like rapid install, where players can begin the game immediately while the game continues to install in the background. However, the multiplayer system gets major advancements. The game includes the map packs that were released on the Xbox. In addition to supporting Games for Windows (GFW) Live for matchmaking, players will be able to locally host games on their computers, like they can with most current PC shooters. Xbox Live Gold members will not need to pay any additional fees, and signing up for a GFW Live account will automatically create one for Xbox Live. Similar to Xbox Live, Vista players choose between free silver basic membership and a gold, paid subscription. Only basic service will be needed to play Halo 2, allowing players to wrack up achievement points (and bragging rights) by performing certain feats. Those looking to take on Xbox players will have to wait for another game to come around. Due to major technological differences, Halo 2 Vista cannot connect to its Xbox counterpart for multiplayer.

Lastly, Halo 2 for Vista will come with an all-new map editor, making custom user-made Halo content possible for the first time. Based on the level editor Bungie used to create the game, players have the chance to not only create and share homemade maps, but develop their own game modes too. Players will automatically download custom maps as soon as they connect to the multiplayer server.

Halo 2 ushers in a new era for Vista gaming. Its advances may not be enough to attract new fans, but with a franchise so big, it seems the Master Chief will have little trouble contending with other big name shooters.

Related Links

Halo 2 Game Guide

Official Website

Microsoft Game Studios